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A Guide on How To Open a Gold IRA Account

By Preserve Gold Research

Do you feel hesitant about the idea of banking your retirement on stocks and bonds? It’s smart to be wary, as market shifts could cause their value to fluctuate wildly overnight. If you’re looking for something more historically stable, consider a gold IRA.
Gold IRAs can offer appealing perks like potential tax savings and protection in times of economic uncertainty. Read on to learn how to open a gold IRA account in this guide from Preserve Gold.

Taking Your First Steps With Gold IRAs

You’d like to open a gold IRA account, but where do you start? It’s essential to consult with a financial advisor before making any moves, but in the meantime, here’s the basic account setup process for gold IRAs:

  1. Pick the type of gold IRA you want. Precious metals like gold are almost always held in self-directed IRAs. A self-directed IRA is an IRA that holds alternative investments like precious metals, crypto, and real estate.
  2. Choose a gold IRA company. This company will help you choose and purchase IRS-approved precious metals to store in your IRA.
  3. Pick an IRS-approved custodian to hold your gold. In some cases, the gold IRA company will recommend certain custodians whom it has already vetted and partnered with.
  4. Create your account with the gold IRA company. You’ll need a driver’s license and information about your other retirement accounts if you’re funding the IRA with another IRA or 401(k).
  5. Fund your account with cash, an account-to-account transfer, or a rollover.
  6. Choose the gold you’d like to hold in the IRA. Only specific kinds of gold are eligible for IRAs, so buy wisely. Most gold IRA companies are also precious metals dealers, so it’s best to purchase your gold from the same company you’re using to set up your gold IRA.
  7. Sit back and enjoy the peace of mind of diversification.

Go Roth or Stick With a Traditional IRA?

Ira And Roth Written On Dice Box

Now that you’ve learned the basics of how to open a gold IRA account, you might wonder whether you should pick a Roth IRA or a traditional IRA. Both have different rules on eligibility, withdrawals, investing, and taxes.

With a Roth IRA, you’ll make contributions with after-tax dollars, which means those contributions aren’t tax-deductible. However, you won’t owe taxes on withdrawals, and there’s no requirement for minimum distributions. That means your gold investment will grow tax-free.

Traditional gold IRAs function similarly to any other traditional IRA. Your gold contributions are tax-deductible, which may reduce your current tax burden. Unlike a Roth IRA, though, you will owe taxes when you take withdrawals.

Ways To Fund Your New Gold IRA Account

Once you’ve set up your gold IRA, you’ll have to fund the account before you can begin buying gold. Funding the account with cash is the easiest way to get the job done. You can also transfer funds via check or wire transfer. If you pick a wire transfer, be aware that your bank might charge a fee.

Pay attention to annual contribution limits if you go the cash route. In 2025, you can contribute up to $7,000 (or up to $8,000 if you’re 50 or older).

There are also rollover and transfer options to consider. With a direct rollover, your funds are transferred from your existing account into your new gold IRA, with no selling of assets required. It’s best to have your account administrator handle this process for you and consult with a financial advisor on which funding strategy is right for you.

While you can take a distribution and deposit it into your gold IRA account yourself, doing so comes with potential pitfalls. The main one is that the IRS will charge a 10% penalty if you don’t deposit the funds within 60 days of withdrawal (unless you’re over age 59 and a half).

A transfer is similar to a rollover, except it involves moving money from one institution to another without altering the account type.

Is That Gold IRA Company Legit? Here’s How To Find Out

Man Thinking On Picking The Right Gold Ira Custodian

Some gold IRA companies make big promises that they can’t deliver on, while others are flat-out thieves. The best way to know whether you can trust a company is to look for registration and affiliations.  The company should be registered in accordance with local & state laws and should have accreditations from other reputable organizations.

There are a few other ways to tell whether a company may not be trustworthy:

  • The company tries to sell you high-priced “collectible” gold coins. Only certain types of gold coins can go into an IRA, and collectibles are disallowed entirely.
  • The company tries to make you believe you can trust them because you share political or religious views. Fraudsters commonly use this tactic.
  • The company uses high-pressure sales tactics and rushes you to make decisions.
  • The company refuses to provide third-party verification of gold purchases. This could indicate that they’re taking your money but not using it to buy gold.
  • The company tells you it’s okay to keep your gold at home. As appealing as this sounds, it’s patently false. The IRS requires you to store IRA-eligible gold in an approved depository. Trying to dodge storage requirements could result in tax implications and penalties.

How To Pick The Right Gold IRA Company

You’ve learned how to avoid the bad guys, but how do you pick a precious metals dealer you can trust? To start with, look at customer reviews, which you can usually find plenty of online. If the company isn’t trustworthy, customers will certainly let others know.

Check out the company’s industry associations and its reputation on the Better Business Bureau website. You may also be able to find information about the dealer on consumer advocacy sites.

Before settling on a gold IRA company, ask plenty of questions and pay attention to the response. Does the dealer seem happy to answer your queries and do so promptly? If they seem annoyed or don’t get back to you in a reasonable time, steer clear.

One question to ask is how much money you’ll need to start your account. Minimum investment requirements vary significantly, ranging from $5,000 to more than $50,000.

Keep in mind that a gold IRA company is different from a custodian. Custodians are financial institutions that hold and administer the precious metals for your gold IRA.

Good precious metals dealers partner with top-tier custodians, saving you the hassle of needing to find one on your own. But they still allow you to choose your own custodian if desired.

When selecting a custodian, look for one that is IRS-approved to manage gold IRAs, offers reliable insurance coverage, and provides regular reports and updates on your account.

What Kinds of Gold Can You Put in an IRA?

Different Gold Bullions

As mentioned earlier, you can’t simply put any type of gold you’d like into your IRA. It needs to meet specific IRS standards to qualify. In short, to be eligible, the gold must be at least 99.5% pure and produced by either a government mint or an accredited manufacturer or refiner.

Gold coins are a popular choice for IRAs, but their eligibility requirements are higher than those for gold bars. Gold coins must be produced by a government mint, such as the US or Canadian Mint, and they must be in like-new, uncirculated condition.

IRA-eligible gold coins include:

Note that although some coins may meet the IRS’ purity requirements, they don’t qualify for an IRA because they’re deemed “collectible.” These include U.S. Liberty coins, French 20 Franc coins, and UK Sovereigns.

IRA-eligible gold bars must meet the same 99.5% purity requirement as gold coins. Instead of government mints, they must be produced by an accredited refiner, manufacturer, or assayer. They must also be in “good delivery condition.” That means they must be of a certain weight and have clear markings, such as the year of manufacture, the refiner’s hallmark, and the serial number.

IRA-eligible gold bars include:

  • 1-ounce Credit Suisse gold bar
  • 1-ounce PAMP Suisse gold bar
  • 1-kilogram Heraeus gold bar
  • 10-ounce Johnson Matthey gold bar

Are There Fees To Consider With a Gold IRA?

Fees are another factor to consider. There’s the setup fee, which costs about $50 to $100, as well as the administrative fee, which can range from anywhere from $225 to more than $2,000 annually. You’ll also have to pay for gold storage, which costs about $100 per year. Then there are the transaction fees you’ll pay every time you purchase gold for the IRA. These fees range from $10 to more than $100 per transaction.

Find out whether the custodian charges flat fees for account maintenance and reporting or a percentage of your account’s holdings. If you own a high-value account, you might be better off with a custodian who charges flat rates.

Preserve Gold Makes It Easy To Set Up Your IRA

Want to learn more about how to open a gold IRA account? Preserve Gold provides a seamless process for setting up your gold IRA. We have thoroughly vetted our custodians and only partner with the best. Reach out to us at (877) 444-0923 to get started today.

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